Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Lawton, John Arthur
URN	etd-10142005-135753
Title	Fuel-optimal space-flight transfer solutions through a redundant adjoint variable transformation
Degree	PhD
Department	Aerospace Engineering
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title No Advisors Found
Keywords	Space vehicles Propulsion systems Research
Date of Defense	1991-04-05
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract A transformation between minimum dimension adjoint variables and redundant adjoint variables is derived in this dissertation. The transformation is then applied between the adjoint variables associated with Cartesian position and velocity vectors and a set of redundant adjoint variables associated with certain regularized variables (Schumacher variables). This transformation proves to be very beneficial when it is applied to minimum-fuel space rendezvous and intercept problems. It facilitates using attributes from the two systems simultaneously; a new necessary condition in Schumacher adjoints is derived in this dissertation, and this together with classical necessary conditions for fuel-optimal transfer (existing in the position and velocity space) leads to a numerical algorithm which seems to be quite robust in finding candidate optimal control solutions for space transfer problems.
Files	Filename       Size       Approximate Download Time (Hours:Minutes:Seconds)     28.8 Modem   56K Modem   ISDN (64 Kb)   ISDN (128 Kb)   Higher-speed Access  LD5655.V856_1991.L387.pdf 3.84 Mb 00:17:47 00:09:09 00:08:00 00:04:00 00:00:20 next to an author's name indicates that all files or directories associated with their ETD are accessible from the Virginia Tech campus network only.

If you have questions or technical problems, please Contact DLA.